This review was originally published in Nathaniel's Towleroad column...
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates starts out giddy with a bouncy firecracker of a credits sequence. Please take that literally as the credits involve a trampoline, fireworks, and two gleeful stars Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) in mid air. Their joyful abandon is short-lived. A scene or two later we're at an intervention with their parents (Stephen Root & Stephanie Faracy) in which we see these same high-flying images again from a less zhushed-up perspective in home wedding videos their parents play them. The inseparable brothers, always each other's bachelor dates at these gatherings, egg each other on until disaster strikes. Property destruction and ambulance calls follow them...
1977 is our "Year of the Month" for July. So we'll be celebrating its films randomly throughout the month. Here's Daniel Walber...
Looking back at the films of '77, the clear production design stand-out is Star Wars. It won the Oscar and changed the world, though not necessarily in that order. Science fiction was crossing over, pushed even further by fellow nominee Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But why talk about harder sci-fi when you could focus on the futuristic gadgetry and technological excess of the James Bond franchise?
The Spy Who Loved Me is a remarkable showcase for legendary production designer Ken Adam, who passed away earlier this year. He built models of the Pyramids, a cavernous office for the head of the KGB and a decadent underwater lair for nefarious shipping magnate Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens). But the real showstopper is the interior of the Liparus supertanker, the site of the film’s climax. Or, rather, the liveliest of its many climaxes. This is a Bond film, after all.
This was Adam's sixth contribution to the franchise, and he made a point of outdoing his prior work. The set for the Liparus was to be an entirely new sound stage, among the largest ever constructed.
The final product was gigantic, 334ft by 136ft. Cinematographer Claude Renoir couldn’t actually see from one end to the other. Adam had to call in Stanley Kubrick, with whom he had worked on Dr. Strangelove and Barry Lyndon, just to figure out the lighting...
Manuel here. There is nothing funnier (I guess?) than a wedding, which explains why Table 19 is the latest comedy to tackle the hilarity of seeing two people profess their love to one another in as public a venue as one can imagine. I joke, though I have to admit this sub-genre has many great examples to justify its continued deployment: Father of the Bride, Bridesmaids, My Best Friend's Wedding, Muriel's Wedding, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Heck, even Wedding Crashers and The Wedding Singer have their charm.
Will Table 19 join that esteemed group? Let's take a look at its poster:
- Can we all agree this is a pitch perfect teaser poster? It gives you a sense of tone and setting with one simple image. I do wish we'd gotten fancier nail art though.
- "Don't Fit In. Take A Number" strikes me as a better tagline for a comedy set in a deli, a butcher shop, or somewhere else where you'd take appointments. (Rather than a wedding where you just get a number assigned to you, no?)
- What I love about this cast is that it perfectly captures the very spirit of a random table at a wedding. What could they possibly have in common but mere contiguity? Just thinking of the comedic stylings of Stephen Merchant hilariously (one hopes) clashing with those of Craig Robinson is surely one of the selling points.
- The promise of Kendrick and Kudrow in a film is enough to get me to buy a ticket, though now I'm wishing Kudrow had invited the Pitch Perfect star to do an episode of Web Therapy.
- So glad Revolori (so great in The Grand Budapest Hotel) will be back in our screens. Now if only he'd dragged Mr. Gustave himself with him as his +1. They'd fit right in with the teaser poster's color scheme.
- Is June Squibb the best recent example of an Oscar nomination breathing life into a character actress' career? I didn't much care for her in Nebraska but I've been happy to see her pop here (Girls) and there (Getting On).
- January 2017? Oy. I'll try not to read too much into that release date but I already foresee it getting lost in the shuffle of the New Year cinematic doldrums (Oscar players aside).
Oh, and the trailer is up but they had me at the cast and I'm too scared to realize the parts may be greater than the sum, so take a look at give it your own YNMS in the comments.
Let's do another Q&A column. I'll pick 8 to 10 questions to answer this week. So ask away. [Please note that questions requiring top ten lists or big essays to answer are less likely to be answered them simpler ones.]
This weekend Dory swam easily past Captain America to become the biggest grossing US hero of the year. (Captain America still leads internationally by a lot, which is funny if you think about it). That's quite impressive for a forgetful blue tang who could have gone 'straight to video' -- Wait, are we still saying that? If not, what's the new phrase. I'm scared of what this means for the future with all those cheapie animated sequels but it is what happened. The current top ten of 2016 includes only two originals (Zootopia & Central Intelligence) but otherwise it's all brand extensions / revisions. It didn't use to be this way but it's been a slow erosion. Consider by comparison: 2006's top ten had 5 originals; 1996 had 6; 1986 had 7. Since we get less original hits every year how soon until we have none?
It should be noted that an original won the weekend but since The Secret Life of Pets famously steals so shamelessly from the Toy Story template, and since it's been promoting itself for what seems like YEARS already it feels like it's a sequel to itself so should it count? Animated films continue to be the safest box office bets.
Mike and Dave performed fairly well in its opening weekend and The Legend of Tarzan had a strong second weekend. In platform release Captain Fantastic had a decent debut with a teensy tiny theater count: not terrible, not great. Will it win strong word of mouth? We deserve more Viggo in our lives but if we don't support his movie we won't get it.
TOP WIDE 800+ screens. arrows indicate gaining or losing screens 🔺01 Secret Life of Pets $103.1 NEW 🔻02 The Legend of Tarzan$20.6 (cum. $81.4) Review 🔺03 Finding Dory$20.3 (cum. $422.5) Review 🔺04 Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates$16.6 NEW 🔺05 The Purge: Election Year$11.7 (cum. $58.1) 🔺06 Central Intelligence$8.1 (cum. $108.3) 🔻07 Independence Day: Resurgence$7.7 (cum. $91.4) 🔻08 The BFG$7.6 (cum. $38.7) Review 🔻09 The Shallows $4.8 (cum. $45.8) Costume Honors 🔻10 The Conjuring 2 $1.7 (cum. $99.3) Heroes and Villains 🔻11 Now You See Me 2 $1.3 (cum. $62.2) 🔻12 Free State of Jones $1.3 (cum. $19.2)
TOP LIMITED Less than 800 screens. Excluding previously wide. 🔺01Sultan$2.2 (cum. $3.2) NEW 🔺02 Our Kind of Traitor$731K ($2.2) 🔻03Swiss Army Man$690K ($3.1) Best Actor 🔺04 Hunt for the Wilderpeople$413K (cum. $754K) Review 🔻05Love & Friendship$326K (cum. $12.9) Review, Podcast, Best Picture 🔻06 The Lobster $309K (cum. $8)Reviewish, Podcast 🔻07Maggie's Plan$180K (cum. $2.9) Review 🔺08Cold War 2$165K NEW 🔺09 The Music of Strangers $144K (cum. $566K) 🔺10Weiner-Dog$105K (cum. $288K) 🔺11Captain Fantastic$98K NEW Review 🔻12Genius$80K (cum. $1.2) Review
Monday, July 11, 2016 at 1:30PM 
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates starts out giddy with a bouncy firecracker of a credits sequence. Please take that literally as the credits involve a trampoline, fireworks, and two gleeful stars Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) in mid air. Their joyful abandon is short-lived. A scene or two later we're at an intervention with their parents (Stephen Root & Stephanie Faracy) in which we see these same high-flying images again from a less zhushed-up perspective in home wedding videos their parents play them. The inseparable brothers, always each other's bachelor dates at these gatherings, egg each other on until disaster strikes. Property destruction and ambulance calls follow them... 
